Page 56 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

“Not a chance.” I made my way back to the center, lay on my back, and crossed my arms under my head once more, but the peace had fled the instant Ty had arrived. Now I felt on edge, an impatient buzzing in my veins. I wanted Ty to have his say and then leave again. Or better yet, just leave. The stars and I had a few things to work out, and I couldn’t do that with Ty muddling my mind.

A week ago, you were ready to marry him,I reminded myself, and I couldn’t refute that.

A series of grunts penetrated the night air. A moment later, Ty’s face appeared in the tree. He grabbed hold of the roof, climbed onto it, and then carefully crawled my direction. He held himself as if the roof would collapse at any moment.

Soon he lay on his back next to me, looking up at the stars. “Bright here, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.”

“Much clearer than in New York.” He turned his head to look at me. “Seems like everything is.”

My stomach felt all murky again. Not here. He couldn’t possibly be starting this conversation on my roof, the night before his wedding.

“I’ve been a fool,” he said, “and I need you to forgive me.”

I allowed myself a glance at him in the darkness, the moonlight illuminating half his face, and I saw only truth there. A truth I’d wanted to see there for a very long time.

“Our breakup really messed with my head,” he continued. “Veronica was there when I needed her, and I’ll always be grateful for that. But lately, she and I have been growing apart. I’m realizing that my biggest mistake wasn’t dating you, but letting you go. We had something special, and I didn’t realize how special until you were gone for good. When I saw you in that lobby, all those feelings came back. I think you felt it too.” His hand found mine.

I pulled my hand away and folded my hands on my stomach, still looking upward at the sky. “Ty, your wedding is tomorrow. This is your nerves talking.”

“If that’s the case, it’s the first time I’ve thought clearly in months. Maybe longer. You didn’t answer my question. That day, in the lobby. Tell me you felt it too. If you didn’t, I’ll go.”

I swallowed. Hard. My entire future felt split in two, a fork in the road that I could no longer avoid. My next words would determine which road to take, and there would be no turning back.

One road was meant to be mine, dictated by the stars. Determined by the universe that had brought me into being.

And the other seemed too light, too impossibly perfect, to be real. A shimmering mirage in the desert. A happiness that someone like me couldn’t possibly hope to deserve, not in a thousand lifetimes.

“I felt it,” I whispered.

The roof creaked as he rose onto his elbow and looked down on me. His breath was hot in the warm breeze. It smelled of tropical chewing gum.

“Do you feel it now?” he asked softly. I felt his leg leaning against mine.

“You’re asking me this tonight?” I laughed incredulously at the bizarre nature of this conversation. “You’ve already made your decision. You’re marrying an heiress in a matter of hours.”

He must have heard the strain in my voice, because he watched me for a long moment, as if waiting for the second part of my answer. When it didn’t come, he said, “And you’re dating a billionaire.”

I didn’t answer, unable to confirm nor deny the fact. We’d never really discussed our level of commitment. At the very least, he was my fake boyfriend, so I should have agreed with his statement, right? But after all the lies I’d told over the past few weeks, I didn’t have it in me to tell even one more.

“I can see you have doubts,” he continued. “I mean, how well do you really know Chase? Rumors can exaggerate the circumstances, but they’re usually rooted in some kind of truth. You may not have a college degree, but even you can do research. How much research have you done on Chase, Daphne? Tell me that.”

Even me?What was that supposed to mean? My walls shot up. “I know that he makes me happy.” And for once, I didn’t feel a stab of guilt at the admission. Chase truly did offer a happiness I’d never known before, not even with Ty.

Could I be happy once I discovered the truth about his past?

Ty leaned even closer, his lips hovering just over mine. “Youmakemehappy,” he whispered. “I’m not letting that billionaire steal you away from me. Not when you’re within reach.”

“Ty, you broke up with me. You chose Veronica.” My voice felt pitifully small.

“I’m unchoosing her and choosing you. You’re the one I want. I just had to be reminded of that. Please give me a chance.” His lips closed the distance between us, and it took me far too long to realize that we were kissing. Our mouths moved together exactly as they had over a year before, so comfortable and familiar, like a worn couch.

A pickle-green 70s couch with the stuffing poking out and fleas. With disco music playing in the background and bright orange carpet beneath it. Groovy and retro, but not somewhere I wanted to spend a lot of time. Definitely not somewhere I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

Still on one elbow, he pressed me harder against the tin roof. Any second, he would swing his leg over mine. I knew how this would go if I didn’t stop it.

I’d stepped a foot on one road only to find it crumbling beneath my feet. I had to explore the other road first. I had to know if things with Chase could possibly work out before…settling for this. Andsettlingwas exactly the right word—because now that I’d kissed both men, I knew that what Ty and I had enjoyed wasn’t magic. It wasn’t even remarkable. It was convenient, and little more.

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